Harry Reid to Obama: ‘Back Off on Earmarks’

This pure hi-larity. All of a sudden Harry Reid has a warped sense of respect for States rights; after he’s been helping to squash it for two years.

Dismissing …Obama’s opposition to earmarks as “an applause line,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told NBC News on Wednesday that the president should “back off” and let lawmakers continue to direct spending to their home districts.

Asked during a one-on-one interview with NBC whether Obama was wrong to promise a veto on any bill that contains earmarks, Reid quickly replied, “of course.”

“This is an applause line,” Reid said. “It’s an effort by the White House to get more power. They’ve got enough power as it is.”

“They”, Harry? You and Queen Nancy seized all kinds of power at the behest of the very B. Hussein Obama you now blast for engaging in claptrap.

Reid, along with other lawmakers who support earmarking, argues that eliminating the practice simply puts more discretion in the hands of executive branch officials who have authority to fund projects. “I have a Constitutional obligation to do congressionally directed spending,” he said. “I know much more about what should be done in Elko [or] Las Vegas, Nevada, than some bureaucrat does back here.”

No, it means that the federal government has to practice more fiscal responsibility, because that’s what Americans demand.

Reid said voters should recognize that eliminating congressional earmarks does not, in itself, reduce spending but changes how the same money is spent.

No, it prevents billions of taxpayers’ money from being snuck into bills for your pet projects.

“I think it’s absolutely wrong and the public should understand that the president has enough power; he should back off and let us do what we do.”
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/01/26/5925377-reid-to-obama-on-earmarks-back-off

You mean like waste our money on phantom districts, union payoffs, and a shitload of outrageous projects like hunting for radioactive rabbit droppings, swine odor and manure management research, grape genetics for wine making, water taxi service, wool research, and swimming?

Putting the kibosh on earmarks would put a crimp in Harry’s spending spree, totaling over $662 million in pork for Arizona in just the last 2 years, much of which was not used for constructive purposes. It’s not his “obligation” or “constitutional responsibility” to get as many earmarks as he can. Reid interprets the Constitutional authorization of Congress to authorize and appropriate money, as a blank check. It’s not.

Arrogant douchebags like Reid think they have the right to take taxpayer’s money and spend it the way they see fit.

Last I checked that wasn’t a ‘responsibility’ described in the Constitution.

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